If Russell Westbrook made a few adjustments to his game like D-Wade, he would be the

[JerrySeinfeld]

he would be the best player in the league hands down.

Everyone knows his FG% isn't special at 42% but the main problem is that he takes 4 threes a game on 29% shooting. He needs to do what D Wade a while back and just remove the 3pt shot from his game almost entirely. if he did this plus be a tad smarter with his shot selections he could easily reach 50% from the field. especially if he was playing off ball more.

If OKC started him as a SG and he didn't shoot 3's as much but slashed more, he could easily be the best player in the league. I have seen him dominate sections of games off ball next to augustin and he almost looks more comfortable running around off ball both offensively and defensively as the other team is starting their sets.

If OKC wants to contend next year they should start

Augustin
Westbrook
Durant
Kanter
Adams

and bring Ibaka off the bench. Kanter/Adams honestly looks like it is better than Kanter/Ibaka, with two bigs playing inside and Augustin/Westbrook/Durant on the perimeter. Maybe Ibaka/Kanter would be great though, they seem to compliment eachother extremely well

[dubeta]

LOL he's too short for SG, his physical advantages would be nullified

[warriorfan]

Westbrook is much more of an undersized SG than a PG. I agree he would be better if he made some of those adjustments to his game. Best in the league seems like a bit of a stretch though.

[JerrySeinfeld]

LOL he's too short for SG, his physical advantages would be nullified

he's the exact same size as D-Wade. Wade has longer arms but Westbrook looks to have a slight athletic advantage, maybe even be stronger?

point is if Westbrook made these minor tweaks to his game I could see him going off in the finals like Wade did in 2006. Even when he was like 23 years old he looked pretty good in the finals.

[JerrySeinfeld]

Westbrook is much more of an undersized SG than a PG. I agree he would be better if he made some of those adjustments to his game. Best in the league seems like a bit of a stretch though.

He is averaging 28/9/7, and playing solid defense. If he got his FG% to 50% and above it'd be so hard to make a case for anyone above him

[warriorfan]

He is averaging 28/9/7, and playing solid defense. If he got his FG% to 50% and above it'd be so hard to make a case for anyone above him



It's a tough sell that he will be able to raise his FG like that while maintaining his current PPG. His assists will also go down if he integrated more off ball play like you mentioned before. I wouldn't call his defense exactly solid as well, and when he plays a SG type role he will be asked to carry more of a defensive burden.


I do agree that it would be more healthy for OKC's team if he made some of the changes that you mentioned.

[Graviton]

What he needs is a coach that will teach him how to play the game the right way.

In his 2nd/3rd season he averaged 8APG with a much worse roster and didn't take that many shots. But as he and Brooks have said, Russ was asked to "be more aggressive" and take on more of a scoring load. Now in every interview Westbrook keeps saying "My job is to stay in attack mode whether Im making shots or not, i need to be aggressive". Just sounds like a guy trying to please his coach, not a selfish chucker. But he gets all the blame most of the time, when it's Brooks who is molding him the way he wants.

Now if he had someone like Pop who would actually teach him the fundamentals of game control, pace, when to go aggressive and when to slow down, shot clock management, we could see a transformed Westbrook. But as of now he only has 1 speed and it's 110% all out all the time, when it works it's amazing to watch, but against elite defensive teams that have smart coaches it's a predictable strategy. OKC needs to adjust their offensive gameplan and learn from the Spurs.

It's sad watching OKC's offense out of timeouts when Brooks just gives it to Westbrook/Durant straight out of bounds for a contested long jumper, without any screens or actual plays.

[JerrySeinfeld]

What he needs is a coach that will teach him how to play the game the right way.

In his 2nd/3rd season he averaged 8APG with a much worse roster and didn't take that many shots. But as he and Brooks have said, Russ was asked to "be more aggressive" and take on more of a scoring load. Now in every interview Westbrook keeps saying "My job is to stay in attack mode whether Im making shots or not, i need to be aggressive". Just sounds like a guy trying to please his coach, not a selfish chucker. But he gets all the blame most of the time, when it's Brooks who is molding him the way he wants.

Now if he had someone like Pop who would actually teach him the fundamentals of game control, pace, when to go aggressive and when to slow down, shot clock management, we could see a transformed Westbrook. But as of now he only has 1 speed and it's 110% all out all the time, when it works it's amazing to watch, but against elite defensive teams that have smart coaches it's a predictable strategy. OKC needs to adjust their offensive gameplan and learn from the Spurs.

It's sad watching OKC's offense out of timeouts when Brooks just gives it to Westbrook/Durant straight out of bounds for a contested long jumper, without any screens or actual plays.

honestly this post was spot on. brooks looks like a major problem in okc and I really, really hope they don't fire him so that Westbrook can hit FA and come home to LA

also, those who think he's selfish never watched him at ucla. he came off the bench without caring about coming off the bench, played off ball but still got like 6 assists a game and played within the confines of ucla's offense really well. guys like kevin love you can tell loved westbrook as a teammate and it looks like basically everyone in okc loves him as well. the problem like you said is brooks constantly telling him to attack without actually installing an offense that has the other 3 players (not durant or westbrook) move around, be asked to create, or do anything. yet westbrook still has singlehandedly turned enes kanter from a borderline bust into a dominant offensive force

[Graviton]

It's a tough sell that he will be able to raise his FG like that while maintaining his current PPG. His assists will also go down if he integrated more off ball play like you mentioned before. I wouldn't call his defense exactly solid as well, and when he plays a SG type role he will be asked to carry more of a defensive burden.


I do agree that it would be more healthy for OKC's team if he made some of the changes that you mentioned.
Have you seen Westbrook in the Olympics/Fiba? He plays completely differently. More of an off-ball slasher that concentrates on playing hounding pressure defense, no long jumpers or overdribbling. Same thing happens in the All-Star game with him and Paul, Westbrook is a great cutter if given the chance. But OKC doesn't have a good enough ball handler to set him up.

[JerrySeinfeld]

you know okc's offense is total shit when the role of the SG is to basically be a lamp post in the corner, and you don't even have to be good at shooting 3's to start. makes no sense but making no sense is just what scott brooks ball is. starting perkins vs bosh for the longest time while the heat would just evicerate the thunder... does anyone have the stats of the thunder vs the heat whenever perkins was sitting? i guarantee you the thunder had a double digit lead per 48 vs them whenever perkins sat, even in the finals.... brooks basically cost them the chip and then they rewarded him with an extension for it because of the youth excuse and he has since been riding the injury excuse out, all while everyone knows he will get murdered by popovich, kerr, any half decent coach in the PO's. So many people berate Spoelstra like he sucks but even he coached circles around Brooks.

[buddha]

Westbrook is a better 3 point shooter than Wade but he has no business taking four a game, he should be at 2.5-3

[Prometheus]

Evident ITT is a fallacy that intelligence can suddenly change in ways that athleticism cannot.

That Russell Westbrook is a poor decision-maker is as inescapable as the fact that Rajon Rondo lacks shooting touch, that LeBron James has a sub-par first step, and that Kobe Bryant is not seven feet tall.

You can't. Fix. Stupid.

But Simon can dream.

[JerrySeinfeld]

Westbrook is a better 3 point shooter than Wade but he has no business taking four a game, he should be at 2.5-3

three 3s a game is still too much for my tastes when you are as good at slashing and finishing as westbrook is and aren't much more than a 30% 3pt shooter at best.

with Kanter, Adams, McGary, Ibaka, they can get the offensive rebounds pretty easily, westbrook needs to help them out by going inside more rather than missing his 3's and giving the other team a long rebound and transition opportunity...

the team who leads the finals in fga+fta has won every single year, except for like one or two.... this shows you that attacking the rim, getting to the line, taking smarter shots that can be rebounded easier and won't hurt your defense as much, these are all crucial aspects of guard play in the finals that westbrook could be doing much better at if playing under a good coach...

do you think steve kerr would allow westbrook to shoot a pull up jumper when it's 1 on 4 in transition? hell no.

[JerrySeinfeld]

Evident ITT is a fallacy that intelligence can suddenly change in ways that athleticism cannot.

That Russell Westbrook is a poor decision-maker is as inescapable as the fact that Rajon Rondo lacks shooting touch, that LeBron James has a sub-par first step, and that Kobe Bryant is not seven feet tall.

You can't. Fix. Stupid.

But Simon can dream.

what you are saying in regards to westbrook is by far the least tangible asset of them all. shooting touch is obvious, look at shooting stats, first step is obvious from either cone drills or watching film, height is a given.

westbrook looked like a great decision maker at ucla, and has averaged 8 assists while being surrounded by mediocre talent as a young player.

for whatever reason under scott brooks his role has consistently grown into being more of a scorer.

[Micku]

LOL he's too short for SG, his physical advantages would be nullified

I think his athleticism would make it difficult to guard him regardless whose on him. He could do well at the 2. He isn't even the shortest person to really play at the 2. A.I was shorter than him and played great in a more competitive era at the 2 guard spot.

He just needs a proper coach to whip him into shape, but it might be too late. I don't see him being efficient as D-Wade was consistently. Dude take way to many 3s and suck at it. Wade's max 3pa was 3.5 and his career was 1.7. He also suck at taking 3s, but he knew that.

Westbrook is taking 4.1 3pa this year and is only shooting 29%. He took 4.7 last year. Whew. Granted, he is basically the main scorer but man he sucks at it. And half of those shots are bad shots contested shots from what I seen.

But yeah, if he plays more under control, he'll be much better. I don't know about being the best player in the league, but he'll definitely flirt with it. He's almost there now, but just need to make a few adjustments and a better coach.

[navy]

He is averaging 28/9/7, and playing solid defense. If he got his FG% to 50% and above it'd be so hard to make a case for anyone above him
He plays terrible defense. All he does he chase steals get lost and give half hearted effort on screens. Im not sure what Westbrook you're watching.

[JerrySeinfeld]

He plays terrible defense. All he does he chase steals get lost and give half hearted effort on screens. Im not sure what Westbrook you're
watching.

he isn't as consistent as he could be on defense but he's nowhere near as bad as other stars at the moment like lebron, harden, etc. what I mean by that is he still brings the intensity and fire to the defensive floor, just gambles too much and could probably benefit from a better coach as brooks is one of the absolute worst.

I noticed for a while once his MVP hype was gaining steam, it seemed like every PG the thunder faced ended up doing absolutely nothing on the box score.

[navy]

he isn't as consistent as he could be on defense but he's nowhere near as bad as other stars at the moment like lebron, harden, etc. what I mean by that is he still brings the intensity and fire to the defensive floor, just gambles too much and could probably benefit from a better coach as brooks is one of the absolute worst.

I noticed for a while once his MVP hype was gaining steam, it seemed like every PG the thunder faced ended up doing absolutely nothing on the box score.
Hes much worse than Lebron and Harden this year. And I mean much worse. Those guys are net positives on the defensive end. I dont even need to check the rpms. (Just incase your wondering it shows the same exact thing)

The exact opposite is true. He's gotten lit up by pretty much every point guard from Eric Bledsoe to Jordan Clarkson.

[buddha]

if Ibaka was playing they would atleast have some rim defense, Kanter is literally useless out there on D and nobody is afraid of driving against the thunder.

[navy]

if Ibaka was playing they would atleast have some rim defense, Kanter is literally useless out there on D and nobody is afraid of driving against the thunder.
Well yeah Westbrook likes to chase steals and stopped giving effort off screens and that means Enes Kanter is the one covering for him. The results arent pretty. Worse defense in the league pretty much.

[ImKobe]

Russ just isn't a very fundamental player. He gets by on athleticism in a lot of cases, but dude's jumper is weak. And with the level of energy he plays with, he takes a lot of bad shots that hurt his efficiency, like a younger Kobe. But that's just how he is.

He is a very athletic player, but he isn't that much above the rest of the league like a Jordan or a Lebron or even Wade would be, he often misses the most makeable shots because he's doing things at full speed. He should slow his game down a bit, he can be too aggressive.

[Genaro]

He needs a better coach and should cut down the 3s but I don't think he should change his position. He is a nightmare to every PG in this league but he doesn't seem to do so well when guarded by bigger guys.

[ILLsmak]

Evident ITT is a fallacy that intelligence can suddenly change in ways that athleticism cannot.

That Russell Westbrook is a poor decision-maker is as inescapable as the fact that Rajon Rondo lacks shooting touch, that LeBron James has a sub-par first step, and that Kobe Bryant is not seven feet tall.

You can't. Fix. Stupid.

But Simon can dream.

I think you can fix shooting 3s tho. people have done it before.

It's like NO. STOP SHOOTING 3s. They shoot a 3 and you say NO. Etc.

But I would argue that he needs to shoot 3s cuz that's his game. I don't think he's gonna get much better than he is now, or if he does... he'd just have 'average stats.' You're not gonna get this dominant Westbrook with reined in shot selection.

Now, which would be better, we dunno... but I bet he wants to stay as he is.

-Smak

[Prometheus]

It's like NO. STOP SHOOTING 3s. They shoot a 3 and you say NO. Etc.

:roll:

"etc."

:roll:

I agree about the threes, but Russ's poor decision-making goes way beyond just shooting from outside.

[salwan]

What he needs is a coach that will teach him how to play the game the right way.

In his 2nd/3rd season he averaged 8APG with a much worse roster and didn't take that many shots. But as he and Brooks have said, Russ was asked to "be more aggressive" and take on more of a scoring load. Now in every interview Westbrook keeps saying "My job is to stay in attack mode whether Im making shots or not, i need to be aggressive". Just sounds like a guy trying to please his coach, not a selfish chucker. But he gets all the blame most of the time, when it's Brooks who is molding him the way he wants.

Now if he had someone like Pop who would actually teach him the fundamentals of game control, pace, when to go aggressive and when to slow down, shot clock management, we could see a transformed Westbrook. But as of now he only has 1 speed and it's 110% all out all the time, when it works it's amazing to watch, but against elite defensive teams that have smart coaches it's a predictable strategy. OKC needs to adjust their offensive gameplan and learn from the Spurs.

It's sad watching OKC's offense out of timeouts when Brooks just gives it to Westbrook/Durant straight out of bounds for a contested long jumper, without any screens or actual plays.

Imagine Westbrook on the spurs :eek:

He would be T. Parker 3.0

[Jacks3]

Russ is just not a good shooter. Sure, better shot-selection would help, but his biggest flaw is his shitty mechanics. You know what would really help his efficiency? A stretch 4 and actual shooters to space the floor instead of Dion freaking Waiters. Unforuently, he's spent his entire career playing with a shit offensive coach like Scott Brooks. I'd love to see what he could do under someone like Kerr, Pop, or even D'Antoni.

[greatest-ever]

he's the exact same size as D-Wade. Wade has longer arms but Westbrook looks to have a slight athletic advantage, maybe even be stronger?

point is if Westbrook made these minor tweaks to his game I could see him going off in the finals like Wade did in 2006. Even when he was like 23 years old he looked pretty good in the finals.
Lol no. It will be a long long time before we see a shooting guard go off like Wade did in that finals.

[Fire Colangelo]

That's like saying... Kobe would be the GOAT if he tweaked his game to shoot 55%, or LeBron would be the GOAT if he tweaks his game a little to score 35 per game...

[mehyaM24]

adjustments? don't know if you realized this or not - but after wade's athleticism faded, so did his impact.

the last several years, wade hasn't even been a top 40 impact player (RPM). somebody like chris paul or vince carter is what you want westbrook to look at. guys with innate athleticism that were deterred by injuries, yet still developed a 3pt & midrange shot - wade is streaky from those areas, and when not influenced by the refs, an average player, tbh.